InZinc Reports Positive Preliminary Economic Assessment Results For
West Desert Zinc-Iron-Copper Project
VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA--(Marketwired - Apr 1, 2014) -
InZinc Mining Ltd. (TSX-VENTURE:IZN) is pleased to announce that it
has received the results of an independent Preliminary Economic
Assessment (PEA) of the Company's 100-per-cent-owned West Desert
Project in Utah.
Highlights
- after-tax NPV(8%) is US$258.1 million, IRR is 23% and payback
is estimated at 3.7 years assuming a zinc price of US$1/lb and a
14.8 year mine life at 2.37 million tonnes per year
- conventional mining and milling
- average annual zinc production of 107.9 million lbs
- average annual iron concentrate (magnetite) production of 1.0
million tonnes
- average annual copper production of 9.9 million lbs
- average direct cash costs (C1) of US$-0.04 per pound of zinc
and average fully allocated costs (C3) of US$0.50 per pound of
zinc
- initial project capital costs of US$247.4 million, including
contingencies
- good potential for resource expansion
"MDA's preliminary economic assessment is a major re-appraisal
of the West Desert project", stated Chris Staargaard, President and
CEO of InZinc Mining. "Over the next several years, a number of the
world's more significant zinc mines will close, removing a
substantial proportion of annual production. The PEA confirms that
West Desert has the potential to help fill this gap as an important
zinc and iron producer within the continental USA, one that would
be in the lowest decile for zinc cash costs globally. With the
potential for both excellent economics and significant upside
remaining in the form of resource expansion, this Project
represents a very high-quality opportunity for our shareholders. We
are excited about the conclusions and further opportunities
identified in the PEA and look forward to advancing West Desert
through pre-feasibility."
The PEA was prepared by Mine Development Associates ("MDA") with
contributions from International Metallurgical and Environmental
Inc.("IME") in accordance with the definitions in Canadian National
Instrument 43-101. All dollar amounts are US currency. The PEA is
considered preliminary in nature. It includes Inferred mineral
resources that are considered too speculative to have the economic
considerations applied that would enable classification as mineral
reserves. There is no certainty that the conclusions within the PEA
will be realized. Mineral resources that are not mineral reserves
do not have demonstrated economic viability.
Economics
The table below summarizes base case economic metrics for the
project as well as its sensitivity to the price of zinc.
|
After-Tax |
Pre-Tax |
Zinc Price ($/lb) |
NPV (5%) |
NPV (8%) |
IRR (%) |
NPV (5%) |
NPV (8%) |
IRR (%) |
Payback (Yrs) |
0.80 |
$238M |
$146M |
17% |
$321M |
$208M |
19% |
4.9 |
1.00 |
$377M |
$258M |
23% |
$507M |
$357M |
27% |
3.7 |
1.20 |
$507M |
$363M |
29% |
$693M |
$506M |
34% |
3.0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Note: US$; base case at Zn=$1 in
bold |
Project economics were estimated on the basis of the average of
long term metal price forecasts periodically published by a number
of large banking and financial institutions and included zinc at
$1/lb, copper at $3/lb, iron ore at $105/t (62% Fe, CFR-Tianjin),
gold at $1,300/oz and silver at $21/oz. The project's iron
concentrate (magnetite) is expected to attract a $10/t premium to
the Tianjin benchmark iron ore price and be priced at $115/t. No
long term projections were available for the indium price and a
price of $600/kg, well below the current spot price of about
$750/kg, was chosen.
Mineral Resources
The resource base at the West Desert project was re-estimated to
include iron. MDA constructed a highly detailed, three dimensional
block model on the basis of both InZinc's and historical drilling.
Zinc, iron, copper and indium grades were assigned to each block
using inverse distance interpolation. The percentage of iron
occurring as magnetite throughout the resource was modelled on the
basis of Davis Tube assays from drilling carried out both
historically and by InZinc in 2007-2008. Gross metal values (GMV)
used for cutoff reporting were based on a zinc price of US$1/lb, a
copper price of US$3/lb, an iron ore price of $105/tonne and an
indium price of US$600/kg to determine the relative value of each
metal. The magnetite price of $115/t used in the GMV calculation
includes the expected $10/t premium to the benchmark iron ore
price.
A GMV cutoff value of $50/tonne was used to define resources
that would be potentially mineable in an underground operation. A
GMV cutoff value of $15/tonne was used to define oxide resources
that would be potentially mineable in an open pit operation. All
mineralization was diluted to minimum dimensions of 2m by 2m by
3m.
Project wide underground resources are summarized in the table
below:
Cut-off ($GMV) |
|
Category |
|
Million Tonnes |
|
GMV ($) |
|
ZnEq (%) |
|
Zn (%) |
|
Zn (Mlbs) |
|
Cu (%) |
|
Cu (Mlbs) |
|
In (g/t) |
|
In (t) |
|
Magnetite (%) |
|
Magnetite (Mt) |
50 |
|
Indicated |
|
13.0 |
|
137 |
|
6.22 |
|
2.16 |
|
691.3 |
|
0.23 |
|
65.1 |
|
33 |
|
433 |
|
48 |
|
6.2 |
100 |
|
Indicated |
|
8.0 |
|
175 |
|
7.96 |
|
3.18 |
|
561.1 |
|
0.29 |
|
50.9 |
|
42 |
|
340 |
|
53 |
|
4.2 |
150 |
|
Indicated |
|
3.9 |
|
232 |
|
10.50 |
|
5.28 |
|
456.1 |
|
0.34 |
|
29.2 |
|
54 |
|
211 |
|
53 |
|
2.1 |
50 |
|
Inferred |
|
46.0 |
|
123 |
|
5.57 |
|
1.76 |
|
1,781.0 |
|
0.22 |
|
224.6 |
|
24 |
|
1,102 |
|
48 |
|
22.0 |
100 |
|
Inferred |
|
23.8 |
|
168 |
|
7.59 |
|
3.02 |
|
1,583.9 |
|
0.32 |
|
167.2 |
|
32 |
|
762 |
|
53 |
|
12.5 |
150 |
|
Inferred |
|
9.8 |
|
236 |
|
10.70 |
|
5.88 |
|
1,266.5 |
|
0.43 |
|
92.4 |
|
38 |
|
375 |
|
48 |
|
4.7 |
Note: base case in bold; US$; ZnEq
based on 100% recovery and Zn=$1/lb, Cu=$3/lb, Magnetite=$115/t,
and In=$600/kg |
Project wide near surface oxide resources are summarized in the
table below:
Cut-off ($ GMV) |
|
Category |
|
Million Tonnes |
|
GMV ($) |
|
ZnEq (%) |
|
Zn (%) |
|
Zn (Mlbs) |
|
Cu (%) |
|
Cu (Mlbs) |
|
In (g/t) |
|
In (T) |
|
Magnetite (%) |
|
Magnetite (Mt) |
15 |
|
Indicated |
|
1.4 |
|
105 |
|
4.76 |
|
3.44 |
|
106.2 |
|
0.20 |
|
6.2 |
|
8 |
|
11 |
|
9 |
|
0.1 |
15 |
|
Inferred |
|
6.2 |
|
97 |
|
4.40 |
|
2.95 |
|
404.8 |
|
0.14 |
|
19.8 |
|
9 |
|
58 |
|
15 |
|
0.9 |
Note: US$; ZnEq based on100% recovery
and Zn=$1/lb, Cu=$3/lb, Magnetite=$115/t, and In=$600/kg |
Mineralization is open for expansion in three directions and
there is very good potential for the discovery of additional
mineralized zones away from existing resources.
Mining and Processing
The PEA contemplates a 5,000 tonne per day underground mining
operation ramping up to 6,500 tonnes per day in year three using
longitudinal and transverse long-hole open stoping mining methods
based on the underground resource only. Near surface oxide
resources were not assessed and remain as a future opportunity.
Access to the deposit would be via two ramps, one of which would
also host a conveyor system for ore haulage. A total of 34.0
million tonnes of ore would be mined over 14.8 years at an average
run of mine mill feed grade of 2.72% Zn, 0.27% Cu, 44.0% magnetite
and 30 gpt In. Indicated and Inferred resources below the mining
cut-off grade but located inside minable volumes were used to
dilute the material processed at grade. Internal dilution of
non-resource material was added at zero grade. Average total
dilution in the mineable material is approximately 20%.
Run of mine material would undergo crushing and grinding to 65
microns followed by separation of a magnetite concentrate using
traditional low intensity magnetic drum separators. Metallurgical
studies have shown better than 95% recovery of magnetite into a
concentrate grading 63% iron with no deleterious elements. The iron
up-grading process is effective at removing copper and zinc and
insignificant levels of these metals remain in the iron
concentrate. The non-magnetic tails from the separation process,
which contain essentially all of the copper and zinc minerals,
would feed a standard flotation process plant with design capacity
of 6,500 tonnes per day to accommodate variations in the proportion
of magnetite in run of mine material. Feed grade to the flotation
plant is expected to be in the range of 3-6% Zn.
Expected metallurgical recovery for zinc is 92 per cent into a
clean concentrate grading 55% zinc and containing high levels of
indium with no deleterious elements. Approximately 74% of the
copper is expected to be recovered into a clean concentrate grading
29% Cu with payable levels of silver and gold and no deleterious
elements.
Projected production of payable metals is summarized in the
table below:
|
Annual Average |
Life of Mine |
Zinc (Mlbs) |
107.9 |
1,594.3 |
Copper (Mlbs) |
9.9 |
146.7 |
Indium (t) |
38.3 |
566.1 |
Magnetite (Mt) |
1.0 |
14.5 |
Gold (Koz) |
7.6 |
113.0 |
Silver (Koz) |
76.9 |
1,137.0 |
Capital and Operating Costs
The projected capital and operating costs for West Desert over a
14.8 year mine life are summarized in the tables below.
West Desert
Capital Costs (US$ millions)
Underground Development |
105.4 |
Project Development |
7.0 |
Facilities |
5.2 |
Mining Equipment |
50.9 |
Process Plant |
123.1 |
Tailings |
33.2 |
Contingency, Indirects, and EPCM |
64.1 |
Life of Mine Capital Cost |
388.9 |
Sustaining Capital |
141.5 |
Initial Capital Cost |
247.4 |
West Desert
Operating Costs (US$ per tonne)
Mining Cost |
23.00 |
Expensed Development |
3.00 |
Processing Cost |
12.23 |
Tailings Cost |
0.25 |
G&A Costs |
2.60 |
Total Operating Cost |
41.08 |
C1, C2 and C3 cash costs (as defined by Brook Hunt) per pound of
payable zinc are listed in the table below.
West Desert
Average Cash Costs (US$) per Lb Payable Zinc
C1 - Direct Cash Cost |
-0.04 |
C2 - Production Cost |
0.45 |
C3 - Fully Allocated Cost |
0.50 |
Opportunities for Enhanced Economics
- good potential to increase the resource to the east, west and
south
- potential for the discovery of localized higher-grade areas
within the resource
- very good potential for the discovery of additional mineralized
zones within the Project area
- potential for additional recoverable zinc and copper at depth,
within the magnetite resource but beyond the current limits of
zinc-copper data
- transportation costs for iron concentrate (magnetite) could be
significantly reduced through contract negotiations with the
railroads and/or sourcing a domestic consumer(s) in the United
States
- potential to process oxide zinc mineralization
- potential cost reductions associated with optimization of the
tailings facility
Future Work
Further work leading to a Pre-Feasibility Study is recommended
and will include drilling, engineering and marketing studies,
hydrological and geotechnical analysis, as well as various baseline
environmental and archeological studies.
The complete technical report constituting the PEA will be filed
within 45 days and will be available on InZinc's website and on
SEDAR. The technical information contained in this news release has
been reviewed and approved by the Qualified Persons listed in the
table below who are independent of InZinc Mining Ltd. and
responsible for the Preliminary Economic Assessment of the West
Desert project.
Qualified person |
Firm |
Scope of responsibility |
Paul Tietz, CPG |
Mine Development Associates |
resource estimation |
Thomas Dyer, P.E. |
Mine Development Associates |
mine planning, financial analysis |
Jeff Austin, P.Eng. |
International Metallurgical and Environmental Inc. |
metallurgy and processing |
InZinc Mining Ltd.
Chris Staargaard
Cautionary Note
Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains forward-looking statements and
forward-looking information (collectively, "forward-looking
statements") within the meaning of applicable Canadian and US
securities legislation. All statements, other than statements of
historical fact, included herein including, without limitation,
statements regarding the potential of the Company's mineral
projects and the Company's planned drilling and exploration
programs. Although the Company believes that such statements are
reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will
prove to be correct. Forward-looking statements are typically
identified by words such as: believe, expect, anticipate, intend,
estimate, postulate and similar expressions, or are those, which,
by their nature, refer to future events. The Company cautions
investors that any forward-looking statements by the Company are
not guarantees of future results, performance, or actions and that
actual results and actions may differ materially from those in
forward-looking statements as a result of various factors,
including, but not limited to, those risks and uncertainties
disclosed in the Company's Management Discussion and Analysis for
the year ended December 31, 2012 filed with certain securities
commissions in Canada and other information released by the Company
and filed with the appropriate regulatory agencies. All of the
Company's Canadian public disclosure filings may be accessed via
www.sedar.com and readers are urged to review these materials,
including the technical reports filed with respect to the Company's
mineral properties.
Neither the
TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that
term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange)
accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this
release.
InZinc Mining Ltd.C.F. StaargaardPresident and CEO(604)
687-7211InZinc Mining Ltd.Joyce MusialCorporate Communications(604)
317-2728joyce@inzincmining.comwww.inzincmining.com
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